


His Morning

by moon-faced-pear-shaped (lettuchi), tofukakegohan (lettuchi)



Category: Hakuouki
Genre: F/M, hakusanta2017
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-31
Updated: 2017-12-31
Packaged: 2019-02-25 19:42:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13219854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lettuchi/pseuds/moon-faced-pear-shaped, https://archiveofourown.org/users/lettuchi/pseuds/tofukakegohan
Summary: For Hakuoki Secret Santa 2017





	His Morning

Hajime rose from his futon, despite the cold, and the earliness of the hour. It was time for _asageiko_ , morning practice, which he took alone before the others woke. 

The compound was silent, and snow blanketed the paths and the overhanging eaves over the well. The water from within it was icy, and to drink it dispelled all the dregs of sleep from his head. 

The sound of his sword slicing through the dry air was all he knew for long minutes, and by the time his awareness fully returned, the sky had gone from grey to peach to a pale blue. The same blue as the uniform of the company of which he was the Captain of their 3rd squad: the Shinsengumi. 

Before breakfast, there would be another training session with Kondo, Hijikata, and the other captains. 

And then, Chizuru would bring them all their morning meal, smiling brightly. That smile would clear away all his tiredness and the ache of my muscles, like her broom swept the steps. And just as she cleared the paths, she kept his heart free of hard things and obstacles that would trip up his step.

The meal itself would bring him comfort: well-balanced _misoshiru_ , always with more tofu if it was what the soup featured, broiled _saba_ \- not the biggest fish but she always picked a good one for him, and pickled radish.

Hajime did not know if these were signs of affection, but, although he fought it, he dared to wish that they were. He would catch himself imagining her going about her domestic tasks about the compound, not in her _hakama_ , but the kimono of a city girl. But then he would remember that she would not have the free range of motion that she enjoyed while wearing split hakama, bound up in the layers of more feminine attire.

The tip of his sword stopped at the end of his swing a fraction too low. He gripped reflexively to keep the fragile part of the blade from scratching the hard soil of the courtyard. It was then, as heavy breaths left his lips in wisps of mist, that he realized his cheeks burned hot as snowflakes melted on them. 

It would not do to think of her in this way. He had been ordered by _fukuchou_ to monitor her, not to idle away hours in fantasy, but because she was a potential liability. She was the daughter of the Dutch-trained doctor, Yukimura Kodou, and he was bound by duty to do what was required if she became an obstacle to the Shinsengumi’s mission to protect the peace in the capital. 

Hajime returned his katana to his scabbard, bringing it to click satisfyingly against the _tsuba_. He straightened from his iai stance, and stared at the flurries of white as they drifted down onto the frozen earth. 

A brisk gust of wind picked up the last of the dry cherry leaves. Sweat on Hajime’s skin started to chill, and he turned toward the Yagi residence. Blushing still, he left the snow, and his warm thoughts, behind him.


End file.
